Newspaper says military was advised not to send him to Iraq but did anyway

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WASHINGTON — A mental health specialist told the military that the soldier accused of leaking classified material to WikiLeaks should not be deployed to Iraq, but was sent anyway, The Washington Post reported Thursday, quoting a military source.

Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew a total of $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.

The newspaper said Manning was distraught about a personal relationship when he sought counseling help. The Post reported that the military official said Manning screamed at higher-ranking soldier in his unit at Fort Drum, and Manning's attorney said that in Iraq, a master sergeant was so concerned about Manning that he disabled the private's weapon in December 2009. The Army said Manning was demoted in Iraq in May 2010 for assaulting a soldier.

The officials say that while investigators have determined that Manning had allegedly unlawfully downloaded tens of thousands of documents onto his own computer and passed them to an unauthorized person, there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure.

Assange, an Australian national, is under house arrest at a British mansion near London, facing a Swedish warrant seeking his extradition for questioning on charges of rape. Assange has denied the allegations.

WikiLeaks' release of secret diplomatic cables last year caused a diplomatic stir and laid bare some of the most sensitive U.S. dealings with governments around the world. It also prompted an American effort to stifle WikiLeaks by pressuring financial institutions to cut off the flow of money to the organization.